The Irrawaddy Magazine

---

• Chinese Firms Attempt to Ease Concerns Over Mega Projects
• In Mandalay, a Road to Ruin for City’s Sculptors
• Burma Business Roundup (July 6)

Chinese Firms Attempt to Ease Concerns Over Mega Projects Posted: 06 Jul 2013 04:30 AM PDT Chinese Embassy officials and representatives of Chinese investors in two mega projects in Burma address a press conference on Friday. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Chinese Embassy and representatives of Chinese state-owned firms involved in controversial mega projects in Burma held a media event on Friday to ease concerns among the public over the impact of their investments. Economic and Commercial Counselor Jin Honggen and representatives of state-owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd held a short talk and took a few questions during a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon. The officials attempted to set out the benefits for Burma of two unpopular Chinese investment projects: CPI's suspended Myitsone Dam in Kachin State and Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd's Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division. "The current Chinese investments in Burma are very important investments for the two countries, these are very beneficial for the development of the countries," the counselor said. Geng Yi, Wanbao's general secretary manager, said the firm intended to carry out the recommendations of a Burmese parliamentary report on the mine, which said it should continue if environmental and social impact concerns are properly addressed. "After the commission report came out, it already mentioned that this project will have long term benefits for the country and people. So, the question is, I think… how we can do the project in a better, or the best-possible way?" he said. "Instead of stopping it, if we can work together in a constructive way then, I will have this chance," Geng Yi said. "If I were a horse, please test me with time and patience." He said that the firm would provide jobs, proper compensation and build many facilities, such as schools and healthcare clinics, to help the communities that would be affected by the project. The Letpadaung mine is a joint venture between China's Wanbao mining company—a subsidiary of Norinco, a weapons manufacturer—and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), a Burmese military-owned conglomerate. During the past year, the project has sparked a public outcry from local protesters, who say that it has caused environmental destruction and resulted in forced relocation of local communities and large-scale land confiscation. Outrage over the project grew after more than 100 people, mostly Buddhist monks, were injured in a pre-dawn raid on a protest camp by local police on Nov. 29. Many of the victims of that attack suffered severe burns caused by incendiary devices, containing phosphorus. The Myitsone Dam project was suspended by President Thein Sein in early 2011, following an uproar from activists, environmentalists and local Kachin residents. They warn that the dam on the Irrawaddy River would affect thousands of local Kachins and possibly millions of Burmese people living downstream who depend on the river for their livelihoods. CPI representative Guo Gengliang said he regretted the government's suspension of the Myitsone dam. "After the country stopped the project, we continued to work on smaller projects, which we have planned on the ground [at the dam site]. But, the project's [progress] has not improved as much as we had hoped," he said. After speaking about their projects the representatives took questions from the gathered reporters, but few answers emerged about the myriad of negative impacts that the projects have had on the environment and on the land and human rights situation of local communities. The media event, which lasted about one hour, was the latest attempt by Chinese investors to improve the image of their investments among the Burmese public. Many Burmese view the projects as only benefitting China and the Burmese military, which agreed to the projects when it was ruling the country several years ago. The developers of the Shwe Gas pipeline, which connects a Chinese built port and Burmese gas and oil reserves off the coast of Arakan State with southwestern China, organized a media event in May. The firms highlighted the benefits of their local community projects, but failed to address the complaints by human rights groups, who have documented cases of land confiscation, forced labor and an increased military presence all along the trajectory of the pipeline.

In Mandalay, a Road to Ruin for City’s Sculptors Posted: 05 Jul 2013 10:40 PM PDT Half-crafted statues of various sizes are assembled in front of workshops in Kyauk Sit Tan, located near the western entrance of the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in Mandalay. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Tropical winds carry white dust through the air, welcoming visitors who stroll along the lane of Mandalay's marble-carving epicenter. The dust covers craftsmen who work with electric drills here on Kyauk Sit Tan, the stone sculpture lane near the west entrance of the city's famous Maha Myat Muni Pagoda, while marble statues of various sizes line workshop after workshop. Mandalay is widely known as the heart of Burmese culture, drawing tourism interest in its traditional craftsmanship. The city is famous for its embroidery, gold leafing, wood carving and marionettes, but also for its stone sculptures, largely carved of alabaster. This centuries-old area of craftsmanship is one of Mandalay's major tourist draws, but the road's workshops have dwindled from more than 100 to just 80 today. Some worry that stone sculpting may be a declining facet of the ancient city's cultural heritage. Dozens of workshop owners along Kyauk Sit Tan were told to relocate last year as Mandalay officials set about widening the road to accommodate increasing vehicle traffic. "The municipal department forced us to move from the area starting in August 2012," said Soe Lin, a marble sculptor. "Since we will not get a substitute area and will have to relocate to wherever is suitable for us, we don't want to go." Workshops owners are reluctant to abandon the area, where many of the sculpting operations have existed for 150 years. "Most of the workshops were owned and inherited by generations since the Konbaung Era [1752-1885]. When King Mindon built Yadanabon Palace, he located our ancestors here to work together," said another workshop owner. Since King Mindon's reign in the mid-19th century, craftsmen, embroiderers and gold leaf makers have congregated in various Mandalay quarters where many of the fellow residents share the same trade. In an area named Myat Par Yat, all of the workshops specialize in gold leafing. Those seeking purveyors of traditional embroidery can find what they are looking for in the Shwe Chyee Doe Yat quarter. For stone sculptures, Kyauk Sit Tan is the place to be. Mandalay's reputation as a major center for stone sculpting is on the rise, drawing local and foreign collectors and casual buyers. Statues of the Buddha are in particular demand. Sculpting's Double-Edged Knife As the industry moves from hand-crafted to machine-made sculptures, production rates have doubled or tripled—and so has the dust. "Working with electrical equipment speeds up the production and the dust as well," said sculptor Khin Maung Zaw as he shook some of the statues' fine white byproduct from his hair. "But these particles haven't interrupted our health yet. Maybe we are not aware of the effects. "Sometimes, we try to put masks on but the hot weather forces us to not wear the mask as we are suffocated by them," he added. "Working without a mask feels much better. We have not suffered serious illness due to the particles yet." Like Khin Maung Zaw, many other workers and shop owners said concern about the health effects of the dust take a backseat to the threat of forcible relocation. The Mandalay sculpting industry's rising reputation has been a blessing and a curse. In forcing workshops to move their operations, the city's municipal department reportedly said the road was narrowing due to the growing piles of uncut stones, half-crafted figurines and polished statues being showcased. The spillover—a sign of a prospering industry that was blamed for worsening traffic congestion—was cited along with the increased dust created by the sculptors, which officials said was negatively affecting neighboring residents' health. Since the August announcement, more than 40 workshops have been forcibly shut down. "Every month, we've been forced to sign a letter in which we are agreeing to find new locations by ourselves. But how is that possible? We've worked here for many centuries and it's very hard to find a new place in Mandalay. It seems like we all have to move to Sagyin Mountain, where all the raw alabaster is produced," Soe Lin said. "If we have to move to another place, we can find [locations] only on the outskirts of the city, which will cause difficulties in showcasing the statues. The customers will also have a hard time finding us, a convenience of the current Kyauk Sit Tan location," he added. Local residents and elders acknowledge the challenges to Mandalay's ancient sites and landmarks in the face of modern development pressures. Many are urging the government to maintain them in order to preserve a cultural and historical heritage that has endured for centuries. "Another stone sculpturing area located in the western part of Mandalay, Tha Mee Daw Kyauk Sitt Tan, was extinct a long time ago for the same reason, to widen up the streets," said Hsu Hnget, a prominent writer and resident of Mandalay. "Only Kyauk Sit Tan of the Maha Muni Pagoda area remains as an image of Mandalay's stone sculpting industry. This area must be preserved as it is a living museum of Burmese culture. "Moving the workshops to widen up the road is not the only solution we have. We can choose another road alternatively. The workshops' owners, and workers as well, have to take responsibility to reduce the waste, dust and particles spreading … It is very important to share responsibility and understand the value of the culture we have."

Burma Business Roundup (July 6) Posted: 05 Jul 2013 10:20 PM PDT Japanese Firm Closes China Factories, Relocates to Cheaper Rangoon Japan is gearing up to make Burma the new sweatshop of Asia, said a report by The Economist citing the case of Famoso Clothing, which is closing its factories in China and moving operations to Rangoon. Famoso is part of Daiei Ready Made Clothes Corporation, based in the Japanese city of Nagoya, and makes men's suits for the Japanese market and others. Until recently, most of its production was at three factories in China, where it employed thousands of workers. "Three years ago two of the factories in China were closed and the plant in [Rangoon] was rebuilt at a cost of US$7 million to become the company's new Asia hub," The Economist reported. "The company's last Chinese factory will close within a year and the [Rangoon] operation will triple its output, from 170,000 suits a year to half a million," the magazine quoted Famoso managing director Kazuto Yamazaki as saying. The reason for the switch is simple, said The Economist: Famoso can hire Burmese workers for US$100 per month—just 25 percent of what it has been paying its Chinese workforce. Famoso's factory is in Mingaladon Industrial Park in Rangoon. This month it will beginning shipping its first consignment of suits to Britain for the famous Marks & Spencer chain. Burma Gems Auction Makes Record Sales worth US$2.6 Billion Burma's latest gems auction sold items valued at a record US$2.6 billion in total, according to the Myanmar Gems Enterprise. The auction, held over the last two weeks of June in Naypidaw, attracted more than 7,000 visitors, more than half of whom were from abroad, said Myanmar Gems Enterprise's deputy director, Aung Kyaw Moe. The auction was the first to be held in a year, reportedly due to a disruption of jade mining in Kachin State because of armed conflict. It featured jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires. "Out of over 10,000 jade lots, over 300 gems lots and over 200 pearl lots displayed for sale under open tender and competitive bidding systems, over 8,000 jade lots, over 100 gem lots and almost all the pearl lots were sold," said the Chinese news agency Xinhua, quoting Myanmar Gems Enterprise officials. Yunnan Refinery Fed by Burma Oil Pipeline to Go Ahead Despite Protests A planned giant refinery in China's Yunnan province to be fed by the Chinese oil pipeline built through Burma will proceed after an environmental impact assessment (EIA) said there were "acceptable" risks of pollution from it. The 10-million-tons-a-year refinery at Anning near Kunming was the subject of two mass street protests by Chinese residents in May objecting to its construction on health and safety grounds. The plant will also produce petrochemicals. The protests forced developer China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which also financed the pipeline through Burma, to publish the EIA report—a rarity in China. "CNPC said pollution discharge from the factories would be processed according to environmental guidelines," reported the independent Beijing business magazine Caixin. China's National Energy Administration had earlier refused to publish the EIA, saying such studies were confidential. However, China has experienced an increasing number of petrochemical-linked accidents, the most recent in June at a CNPC facility in Dalian in the northeast, where at least six people were killed in explosions and fires. The Yunnan refinery is due for completion in 2015. It will be fed by crude oil piped up from a new transhipment terminal on the Bay of Bengal at Kyaukphyu. CNPC said it will provide 53 percent of Yunnan's future fuel oil needs. 'Poster Boy' Serge Pun Forges Burma's Most Valuable Company Yoma Strategic Holdings has become the most valuable company in Burma, with the value of its shares on the Singapore Stock Exchange zooming to US$870 million in recent weeks. Yoma is part of the SPA Group run by Serge Pun. The group includes 30 operating companies with 4,000 employees. "When global markets went into a funk, Yoma's shares held steady, reaffirming investor confidence in Myanmar's future and Pun's ability to harness it," said the US business magazine Forbes. Forbes this week described Pun as Burma's business "poster boy" because of his successes since returning to live in the country after real estate forays in Hong Kong and elsewhere in East Asia. One of Yoma's biggest ventures in Rangoon is a partnership with Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels to create a five-star hotel under the famous Peninsula brand in the heritage building that formerly housed the Burma Railway Company. Carlsberg to Brew Beer in Burma by End of 2014, Partner Says The first Carlsberg beer will be brewed in Burma by the end of 2014, according to the Danish giant's local partner Myanmar Golden Star Breweries (MGS). The two firms signed a joint venture agreement earlier this year and work has already begun on a new brewery, MGS said this week. In addition to the Carlsberg brand, the new brewery will also produce a new Burmese-brand beer. A name has not yet been chosen, said MGS chairman Thein Tun. Burmese at present drink on average less than four liters per year compared with 25 liters annual per capita beer consumption in Thailand and 30 liters in Vietnam. The Carlsberg-MGS partnership also plans to export Burma-brewed beer. Skin Whitening Creams Taken off Burmese Shelves in Health Scare Japanese cosmetics maker Kanebo is recalling its skin whitening creams on sale in Burma and other Southeast Asian countries because of complaints about skin discoloration. The firm admitted the problem might be connected with a chemical formula it created called 4HPB, but did not disclose what ingredients are in the formula. The recall follows warnings in the United States by that government's Food and Drug Administration that some skin whitening products contain potentially dangerous levels of mercury and other harmful heavy metals. Whitening creams are especially popular among young women in Asian countries with darker skin because of societal notions that paler skin is more attractive. The creams have recently become fashionable in Rangoon.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Irrawaddy Magazine To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610